


ACT I

by Unusual_Table



Series: With Love From Seoul [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Organized Crime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 16:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10032512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unusual_Table/pseuds/Unusual_Table
Summary: Seoul's cruel love seeped from sidewalk cracks and broken glass.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edit of the original "With Love, From Seoul" posted under my AFF account (clonesarc170).
> 
> For second time readers, please enjoy!
> 
> For first time readers, welcome to the journey.

 

Seoul's cruel love seeped from sidewalk cracks and broken glass. It danced around Baekhyun's frown and tapping foot where dirt rose in the air to soil his scrubbed white shoes and Pokemon laces. On Sungji High School's opening day accented with only one blossoming tree amongst a landscape of brown and grey, Baekhyun was blind to all but where the outlines of his two best friends should be walking up to the gate as the clock inched closer to striking its morning bell. 

His eyes shifted between open air and the text on the page in front of him. It was a textbook two editions too old but between his class notes and the library it wouldn't pose a problem. In just a couple weeks he'd managed to read through material for the first half of the term, committing as much as he could to memory. Chanyeol and Jongdae didn't feel it yet, this same urgency. While walking through the halls of their dusty, forgotten school, Baekhyun only saw the vine-covered stone walls of Yonsei just beyond his reach, the ticket to the rest of his life. Perhaps his friends would see it too if they only looked hard enough.

"Byun!" a loud voice boomed from out of nowhere before he was abruptly tackled the ground, book falling from his hands.

Above him now were Jongdae's dark, sparkling eyes with the clouds overhead against a blue sky momentarily uncoiling the anxiousness churning in his gut at the prospect of being late for their final opening ceremony. It came back with the faint smell of alcohol lingering on Jongdae's breath.

"Our last year in this prison!" his friend continued excitedly only laughing when Baekhyun shoved him away to get his hands back on his textbook instead. 

While Baekhyun was focused on brushing the dirt off his book, Jongdae reached up to comb the dirt out of his hair in silent apology.

"You're late," he grumbled while Jongdae dragged him along with a light grip on his wrist. "And you were drinking on what was technically a school night. Don't break your promise to me, Kim Jongdae."

It was all said with a firmness that used to make his friend cry back in elementary school but now Jongdae only rolled his eyes.

"I won't even though I think your dumb extra calculus lessons don't make sense. I'll be there, Baek, no parties. Well... none except for Taeyeon's birthday this weekend to make sure she doesn't take advantage of your whipped-by-college-bitch ass."

Jongdae winced when Baekhyun elbowed him sharply in the side as they walked through the school doors, a blush covering his face at the mention of the older girl. 

"That party will make me miss at least four hours of study time so please just try to act normal. I only want to blend in."

He didn't have to look at Jongdae to know he was smiling and despite all the teasing the both of them knew that their words meant no harm.

Inside the auditorium, Baekhyun scanned the crowd for Chanyeol in the off change the tallest of their trio had somehow slipped in undetected and by the time Jongdae got a stick of gum slipped to him by Amber who had crept from the girl's side of the room, Baekhyun was torn between worrying about his usually somewhat punctual friend, the new paper cut on his finger courtesy of Jongdae, and the sight of their class president Do Kyungsoo getting ready to take the stage with his always-one-point-higher-than-Baekhyun brain. Their short break between the end of one term and the beginning of the next seemed longer this time, however, so Baekhyun welcomed such an atmosphere with a tight lipped smile while Jongdae relaxed at his side. 

"Stop worrying so much," the other boy whispered to him in the middle of Kyungsoo announcing each grade's class trip for the year, "Chanyeol probably just missed the bus since his sister is starting to experiment with makeup these days. And close that damn book at least until you actually set foot in a classroom."

Naturally Baekhyun ignored him. Every second counted, after all. But continued glances towards the auditorium door proved fatal for his concentration. Their final opening ceremony didn't feel right without Chanyeol and it was all too close to the dreams he'd been having in the damp darkness of his bedroom. Even while surrounded by the forever unchanging sight of Sungji High, Baekhyun couldn't help but shake the feeling that outside of its walls, his lifelong best friends might drift away, the memory of their trio swallowed by the lives that awaited them on the other side.

 

 


End file.
